Hey Jude!

March 15, 2009|By: Stephen Black

A Warning from the Word of God, from the book of Jude:

A Warning to those who are unfaithful; who engage in all forms of sexually immorality and homosexuality.

This is also a Scriptural warning to those who are rebellious to God's Holy Word, and who scoff and mock at the Scriptures, and it is a warning to those who are greedy for gain and the selfishly ambitious.

Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the precious salvation we all share from Jesus Christ our Lord. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his people who are called holy. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ by their way of living life.

So I want to remind you and warn you, though you already know these things if you have studied the Word of God, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later He destroyed those who did not remain faithful. This is a sober warning for anyone who names Jesus Christ as Lord. The commandment is clear, "Thou shall not take the Lord's name in vain." Saying that Jesus Christ is your Lord and then living ungodly. And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because their arrogance blinded them and taking them into sexual perversions of every kind.

When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. Be careful with those who you have fellowship with least they turn you away from following the Lord Jesus Christ. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their own desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want. But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.

But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives, never allowing yourself to compromise, but be all the more diligent as you see the day drawing closer to the end.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.